some minutes ago i drove home from a bar and saw a fox lying on the street, i have ever been afraid of finding a half dead animal on the street....
he breathed heavily and there was blood and stuff on his face....
so i set back and ran him over, he was not dead he winded himself and i needed to run him over two more times to kill him....
i don't know if i did the right thing...sorry for my strange writing, i'm shocked or so...i did this in affect...why did the asshole which ran him over the first time not stop? why did more than 8 cars passing by not stop althoug i had the warning lights on? i don't know if i did the right thing and cannot stop thinking about it. i mean it was horrible. so many times i have thought about such a thing happen. but what can you do? jumping on his head with your feet?

Let me get this straight before Im too quick to judge, did you run him over to get him out of his misery? I for one would not have done that, since its not a sure kill. I would have first try and find a veterinary office or something. If not, I would have stayed by him and talked to him until he died. Unless I had a gun, I dont know if I would have killed him. Even if I had a gun, I would be hesitant for taking a life. You probably inflicted more pain and turmoil on him by running him over like that.

Its a sticky matter because either way you choose, its both wrong and right at the same time.

i only wanted to end his suffering i mean, it was 1 am and i have no mobile phone with me, it would have taken an hour or so to get help...
whats done is done and i hope i will never ever get into such a situation again, i can't sleep....what a shit

Oh my god!!!!! I sincerely cannot stop crying right now. I won't be able to sleep either, oh my gosh my heart is just breaking

Lelle, I didn't doubt for a minute that your intentions were pure. I think we all love animals on this site and would never have malicious intentions that motivate our conduct toward animals. I, too, was in the same horrible situation about a year ago. I was driving and witnessed a cat that had just been struck by a car. he was still alive, his upper body squirming, wiggling, trying to drag himself across the road, but his lower body was an absolute pancake and their was lots of blood. I too, was totally panic stricken and did not know what the best thing to do for the animal was. If only he could have spoken and told me what he wanted me to do.

Anyway, my first instinct was too try and get him to an after hours vet (it was 3:30 am) to save him. Butmy next instict was that I was being selfish and that he was in excruciating pain and it would be cruel to NOT do something right then and there to put him out of his misery. But, like Kollision said, I did not have a gun and so I couldn't put him out of his misery. Anyway, all this was going through my mind in literally less than one minute. The cat died in my arms within minutes which is good I guess, because he did not suffer for long, but I knew that he did suffer what I am sure was unbearable pain for at least a few minutes!!

I was so depressed for such a long time after that, so it is perfecly natural Lelle that you are going to feel sad and even maybe guilty for a while. But don't be hard on yourself. You're not the asshole that hit the animal and just drove off. You stopped, which is more than most people apparently did. Running over the animal twice like you did, in order to try to kill it so it stops suffering, must have been EXTREMELY traumatic for you.

BUT EVERYBODY, LET US ALL MAKE THIS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE SO WE CAN BETTER HANDLE A SITUATION LIKE THIS IF IT EVER HAPPENS AGAIN. The day after my incident, I contacted a few local shelters and vets to ask them what their opinions were on the best thing to do when in that situation. Everybody advised me that running over the animal was NOT WISE, because, like Kollision said, it is not a sure kill. Unless you have a gun and can execute the animal swiftly and painlessly, then please do not try to kill it by running it over or steppiog on it and hitting it over the head or anything like that. You really only have two options - the best is to rush the animal to a 24 hour vet. So, to be prepared, I suggest that everybody right now take two minutes and find out where there are 24 hour vets in your city. Jot down the numbers and the addresses, and keep it and at all times in your wallet or car. Please do not just put this on your to do list, use the internet right now to locate this crucial info. Call the vets to make sure that the info is up to date and accurate. if you see aa half alive animal, and have a cell phone, call the vet and tell him what happened and that you are on your way. if you do not have a cell phone, just drive there asap.

Since injured wild animals can be dangerous to handle, be very careful and have the proper "equipment" in your car at all times like a rescue kit. This includes a blanket, a flashlight, and most importantly, a long pair of real sturdy construction gloves in case the animal tries to bite you. Aagain, please do not put this off. make this an urgent errand.

The only other option is to stay with the animal and speak to it gently and in a soothing and comforting manner. But it seems though that the animal can end up languishing in pain for too long with option two, so if I cam ever in a situation like that again, I am going to try adn go with option one. I have the numbers and addresses of two 24 hour vets in my purse, and the gloves and blanket and box/cage in the trunk of my car. I am prepared.

I feel guilty that I never thought about posting tips on how to handle a situation like that sooner. if I had, maybe Lelle you would have been a little more prepared, and the little fox would have suffered less

Lelle, we are hear for you when you need us. Don't be hard on yourself. You know you love animals and want to end animal suffering. That is why you are vegan. YOu help animals everyday with your veganism. Do not let it eat away at you. Learn from it, take the above actions and be prepared for next time, if there is one

I will never forget what that beautiful cat looked like. I am sure you will never forget the memory of that fox which you tried to help either.

Everybody, unless you want to be depressed for a long time and have bad dreams, please take the above noted steps immediately and be prepared. It CAN happen to you anytime, and if it does, you will wish you were prepared.

1. The easiest thing would be to call ANY Vet in your city, and ask them to give you the number for the nearest 24 hour emergency vet place. ALL vet offices will have such info. Guaranteed. Call the number you were given to make sure it is correct info and to find out exactly the address of the emergency 24 vet and directions on how to get there. YOu do not want to get lost with a dying animal in yuor car!!! Learn exactly where it is in advanced to be prepared!!!

2. What you might do is search either in the yellow pages under "veterinarian" or "animal hospital" or "animal care". usually, if it is a 24 hour place, it will state so in the yellow pages add. Call to make sure the info is correct. Get to know where the emergency clinic is located exactly.

3. Alternatively, you can do a 411.com search. type in the state and the city, and then "veterinarian" under TYPE OF BUSINESS. This will yield many results. Most if not every single vet office will have the information on a 24 hour vet clinic in the area, and can provide you with at least the phone number. Call to make sure info is correct and to get the address and directions.

FINALLY, jot down the info and keep it in your wallet at all times. THIS THE THE WHOLE POINT, AFTER ALL.

To everybody else, the above will only take maybe 5 minutes out one's day yet can spare an animal a great deal of suffering in the future.

I live in Toronto so I am not really familiar with the Los Angeles area. Is Orange County near you at all? I found the following info, but please call them during regular business hours and make sure that they are the right place for your location. Make sure also that they are 24 hours, and that they care about wild animals like foxes too!!!! here is the info (again, I just found it doing a 411.com search):

Thanks for the help. As for those addresses, they arent even close, but thanks. I got those pop up in on search I did, but its just really far from here. I will go looking for a vet, I hope I have a Yellow Pages. Thanks again.

compassionategirl,
thanks so much for your kind words and telling us what to do when something like that happens i wish that won't happen to anyone of us again. i still feel so bad don't think that i'll touch the car in the near future, i mean, in our area you can see loads of dead animals lying on the side of the road or on the road and who knows how much they suffered and nobody cared i wish i could own a gun for situations like that, but in germany owning a gun is really difficult which may be good in most cases, but in my case i would have saved the fox so much pain

Koll - just make sure that you call that vet and make sure they are still operating on a 24 hour basis and that they are prepared to deal with wild animals if necessary/emergency. Also, do not forget to jot down the info and put in your wallet for good. YOu might also want to make sure you understand exactly where it us and how to get there. Imagine getting lost when you are panic stricken and upset with a dying animal with you? That would only prolong the animal's fear and suffering.

Lelle, even if you do not actually drive for a while, it is good to have emergency 24 hour vet info with you at all times, so please make sure you get proper and correct info and stick it in your wallet, so you know where to go if you ever encounter a dying animal again. It can happen anytime, anywhere - not just when you are driving on the road.

All us animal lovers should be carrying that info in our wallets in case of an unexpected emergency. To animal lovers, it is as important to have with you as a credit card or driver's license or keys!!!

Luv u guys both. Have a great day.
LOL , Natalie (and I mean "Lots of love", not "laughing out loud"

this is sticky, I delt with the same thing with a squirell one time. He was ran over but only his back legs were affected. He was trying to climb a tree all bloody with only his front legs. He was not successful. I grabbed a very large rock and stood over the animal that had finally given up on climbing the tree and, it seemed, on life as well. My intent was to put it out of its misery. So there I was, standing over this little animal, with a huge rock in my hand. But I could not do it, I let the squirell lay there and die and have felt like shit about it ever since. I know he was suffering and I know I could have ended that. That still haunts me and I wish I would have done it. No one deserves to feel the pain that squirrel was undoutably feeling.

I'm sorry this happened Lelle But you did what you thought was best and it might have suffered for hours more or been eaten alive if you hadnt done what you did. There was a baby rabbit that got hit by a car and dragged itself into our garden a while ago. It was suffering really bad, a huge part of its skin was ripped off. I had to get my dad to put it out of its misery and I cried about it for days. It's never an easy situiation.

_________________If I can't dance, I don't want any part of your revolution - Emma Goldman

this is sticky, I delt with the same thing with a squirell one time. He was ran over but only his back legs were affected. He was trying to climb a tree all bloody with only his front legs. He was not successful. I grabbed a very large rock and stood over the animal that had finally given up on climbing the tree and, it seemed, on life as well. My intent was to put it out of its misery. So there I was, standing over this little animal, with a huge rock in my hand. But I could not do it, I let the squirell lay there and die and have felt like shit about it ever since. I know he was suffering and I know I could have ended that. That still haunts me and I wish I would have done it. No one deserves to feel the pain that squirrel was undoutably feeling.

But that is just one way to look at it.

Just to be clear you guys, if you are confident that you can execute a quick and sure kill, I TOTALLY agree that you should do so. But I DON't THINk that running ove an animal with your car is guaranteed to be quick or sure. I just do not think that that is what we should do in a future situation like this.

But, here is the difficulty: What if you do not have a rock, or a gun or anything but your bare hands. And what if the 24 hour vet is too far or you were walking on foot anyhow and have no way of getting there in quickly. What could we do then? I know that I have no experience killing an animal (maybe except squishing bugs BEFORE I was animal rights). So even i tried to break its neck, I would probably botch the job thereby cause it more suffering. What are my other options? Suffocate it? I think that is just as horrible for the animal as being run over (for a total of three agonizing times in poor Lelle's case ).

So short of maybe carrying a gun or a knife, I simply do not know what I would in that situation. If somebody here is a former hunter and can teach us a sure fire quick and painless kill technique I am all ears.

But until then, maybe we should add a bog rock or an instrument to humanely kill with to that rescue kit we should all keep in the trunk of our cars.

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